Sports
Thursday, Oct. 27, 2011
The Loquitur | 15
Men and women’s swimming teams ready to compete BY JENAY SMITH Photo Editor The men’s and women’s swim teams are genuinely excited about the season ahead and the responsibilities it brings. The first meets of the season for the swim teams were against the University of Scranton and Fairleigh Dickinson University on Saturday, Oct. 22. The men lost 6430 against Scranton but came back to beat Farleigh Dickinson 53-32. The women lost to both opponents by scores of 65-29 and 56-39, respectively. “I am incredibly excited about the season,” Tim McCann, sophomore history major, said. “I’m one of the older kids on the team now so I feel like I have more responsibility. It’s just a lot of fun to be here and it’s one of the things I love doing.” On the two teams, there are a combined nine freshmen this year. For the women’s side there are five, a number that includes Rebecca Barrett, a freshman political science major from Wilmington, Del. “Being a freshman on the team is pretty great,” Barrett said. “I got to meet a lot of new people and it’s nice coming in and having a family-like situation where you get to meet everyone and everyone is welcoming.” Although the first meet is important and exciting, the meet that seems to have most of the swimmers excited is the Grove City championships. Kimberly Crowther, sophomore special education and elementary education major, is particularly excited about the Grove City championships. “Last year it was the best meet that I have ever been to in my life,” Crowther said. This year, Crowther is ready to make it to the top 16 for breast stroke. The Grove City championship is made up of two conferences and every swim team they compete against participates as well. The meet is at the end of the year so they are eager to see how their young team will fare against all the other swim teams.
“This season is going to be a little tricky because we are a young team so we’re not looking to win a lot of meets,” McCann said. “It’s more of just getting our personal times down to where they need to be and staying in shape.” Many of the members from last year were seniors so the focus for this season is to build up the team. There is some hope according to Walter Jesuncosky, senior history major and sports management minor. “It’s a young team but it’s a lot of potential so it should be interesting,” Jesuncosky said. Jesuncosky is excited about competing especially because this is his first year back. He suffered from shoulder and knee injuries in the past, which prevented him from swimming. The injuries are still currently bothering him but since it’s his last year, he’s fighting until he finishes the season. The seniors on the team admit that they are going to feel some nostalgia after leaving the team. After this season they are most likely not going to swim as a sport but more of a hobby. This is why they are excited and want to push through any obstacle in their way and have a great year. One thing all the teammates can agree on is working hard in practice. “It’s a lot of hard work during practice,” Crowther said. “It’s a lot of time so you really need to put a lot of effort into it and work really hard during practice.” The swim team as a whole practices every night Monday through Friday. They also have morning practices on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. A normal practice for them consists of some drills and some laps in the pool. “Swim as hard as you can in practice until you die pretty much,” Jesuncosky said jokingly. The members on the swim team this year are young but they are working hard to prove that a young team can still do well. JMS587@CABRINI.EDU
PHOTOS SUBMITTED BY CABRINI COLLEGE ATHLETICS DEPARTMENT
The men’s and women’s swim teams both began their 2011 seasons on Saturday, Oct. 22.
Financial Fanatics win 2011 wallyball tournament BY JESSE GAUNCE Copy Editor The fifth-annual Fair Trade Wallyball Tournament commenced on Wednesday, Oct. 19 at the Dixon Center with Financial Fanatics taking home the title by defeating the Monstars! two games to none in a bestof-three series. The event began with 16 teams and took place over the course of three days. Participants were able to choose their own teams consisting of three or four people. For those who are unaware, Fair Trade helps farmers build sustainable businesses that positively influence their communities. Fair Trade products are goods that come from far-away farms where farmers and workers receive minimal compensation. Some students played for the competitive aspect and some played to raise awareness. “It was awesome playing in this tournament because of the fun competition but also for raising awareness in Fair Trade,” Brian Bell, senior criminology major and a member of the Monstars!, said. “Any time you can bring awareness to an issue that is not talked about much, it’s always good knowing you did something that could help that issue out.” Wallyball is almost the same game as
volleyball except players can use the walls. Other participants, like Ryan Bunda, senior criminology major, were encouraged by their professors to sign up and make a difference. This was Bunda’s first time participating in the event. “Our professor, Dr. [Kathleen] McKinley, wanted a team to represent the criminology/sociology department so she asked for people to sign up during class,” Bunda, a member of the Monstars!, said. “We just went out there to represent our department and for the good of the cause. This was the first year that I participated in the Wallyball Tournament. I actually had never even heard of wallyball until I came to Cabrini.” Although the only real prize of this tournament was bragging rights, students still had the desire to win and showed that through their in-game strategies. “We just tried to use our height and athletic advantages on teams and tried to capitalize on any disadvantages we saw in those teams,” Alexx Sites, senior human resources major and a member of the Financial Fanatics team, said. Sites was also happy to be involved in an event that promoted something many Cabrini students and faculty feel very strongly about. “It was a great cause and outcome to
PHOTO SUBMITTED BY STEPHEN EBERLE
From left to right: Adam Sodl, Connor Mulligan, Christian Angerame and Alexx Sites made up the 2011 Financial Fanatics team that won the 2011 Fair Trade Wallyball Tournament. have for Fair Trade,” Sites said. “I have done projects on Fair Trade for other classes but never did anything actively towards it. A lot of time the thought is ‘what can we do,’ and no one ever sees the understanding of how a wallyball tournament has an effect on Fair Trade. I believe a lot of our retailers
around the U.S. use unjust ways to make more money. It makes you think and do research before you buy their products.”
JTG45@CABRINI.EDU